Select tarot spreads, publications, interviews, white papers and class handouts.
Writing and Other Media
These are some of my tarot spreads, publications, interviews, white papers and class handouts. Click on the title to read the article or listen to the interview. Please also check out my blog, Completely Joyous!
Created 2006; posted March 20, 2015
Cogs in a Wheel spread is a vast spread that examines where you currently are in a cycle, its origins, and how to navigate it.
This kabbalistically based spread lets you explore how you reflect the process of Binah in your work—how thoroughly you can manifest the energies that stimulate you, or it lets you pinpoint where you might lose the thrust of the work and produce only a part of what you want to achieve.
This Empyrean Key spread series captures the energy of the Full Moon in Aries conjunct Uranus to reveal the part of the Self that is ready for transformation, the reflection of its highest ideal, and the revolution necessary to transform from one into the other.
I developed this spread for my Magician’s Tools class last year. It is based on the four stages of analytical psychology according to Jung. I think it’s helpful for finding out where we are in our own personal analysis so that we can facilitate our own healing. It’s also a good opportunity for self-reflection prior to working with clients.
This is a spread I developed for the Denver Tarot Geeks last year. It plays off the early tarot and pre-tarot image of the capriciousness of Lady Fortune, the cycling of fate indicated in the series of words concerning the reign of the individual. We play our own game of tarot roulette by rearranging the cards and reinterpreting, and old trick that gives a fresh perspective.
This handy-dandy chart, the new-and-improved version of a previous handout I compiled about six years ago, makes it easy to find the tarot card that is associated with a particular time frame (a decan, or ten degrees of an astrological sign). In this new and improved version, I have sorted the information two different ways, so you can easily look up the dates and then find the associated card or alternately look up a card, and then find what decan it is.
This twenty-page e-book has three tarot spreads that use the Empyrean Key method to help you understand and harness the energies of the current Grand Trine in Earth.
I was looking through my blog posts folder on my computer and just found this as an unfinished item. I read through it and it looks finished to me! I contemplate the idea of healing the past as a balance point to creating the future, discuss the symbolism of the Temperance card, and provide three variations on a simple 3-card spread. I hope you like it!
The Empyrean Key method integrates the intuitive communication of the tarot with the astrological blueprint of your life purpose to create personalized spiritual practices aimed at evolutionary transformation. The process has been called “almost indescribable in its effectiveness for soul-exploration.” The Simple Astrology Spread and Directions guide you through a hands-on exercise for applying tarot to your sun sign to discover your unique symbol that can be used to unlock the highest levels of your soul purpose. This is the simplest version of the Empyrean Key class that I teach and can be done by anyone who has use of a deck of tarot cards. No tarot or astrological knowledge is necessary–all the info you need is in this document.
This is the first chapter of my years-in-the-making-but-as-yet-unfinished book on beginning tarot. Brand-new tarot readers often have lots of questions. Should I store my bag in a silk pouch? Is it wrong to let other people touch my deck? Is it ok to buy a used tarot deck? Find out the answers to these and other pressing questions here!
Presented February 17, 2011 for the Introduction to Metaphysics Meetup Group
These are the handouts for my presentation on telling stories with the pictures on the tarot cards. It includes the exercises I shared with the group and three of my favorite simple spreads that I’ve gathered from various sources.
This is one of my favorite spreads and rituals. I developed it in 2006 to share with the Denver Tarot Meetup, and have since presented it there in 2008 and 2011. The article discusses what it means to clear and charge a deck, then provides the instructions for the reading and ritual. By basing the charging ceremony on a tarot reading, you get a completely personalized method for working with a new deck.
The Revolutionary Wheel spread utilizes the symbolism of TARO and YHVH in the layout and interpretation of the cards. The YHVH spirals inward to self-reflection and the TARO spirals outward as you share with others. The world of thought is born into the world of the senses, and in turn the achievement of the world of the senses becomes a new idea to be pursued, understood, and in turn, told.
Published Winter 2006 in the American Tarot Association Quarterly
I wrote this when I first began studying kabbalah. The article discusses some of the basic kabbalistic correspondences used in the tarot, and it includes a spread I developed that has a very nice movement and flow to it, based on the Wheel of Fortune card.
This is the podcast Scott Womack created from my two-part presentation for the Denver Tarot Meetup on the suits and their elemental correspondences.
Sadly, the actual content appears to have gone the way of old internet ghosts. So the link only takes you to the cover page. Lesson learned — if you’re ever on a podcast, obtain your own copy of the content!